SERVICES: SATURDAY 6PM | SUNDAY 9AM & 10:45AM. 

We Livestream at www.FaithFellowshipWeb.com/livestream, through the FFC App, and YouTube.

Who's your Mama?

Who's your Mama?

Words of Faith 6-6-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

To unsubscribe follow the directions at the end of this devotion.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

 

Galatians 4

      [21] Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? [22] For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. [23] His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.

 

       One of the key arguments that the "legalists" made as they infiltrated the Christian community in Galatian was that they were "more genuine" as Christians because they had been Jewish before they heard anything about Jesus. 

        This group of legalists is often called "Judaizers."  They urged the new believers who had never been Jewish to go under the detailed Law of Moses, including the ritual of circumcision to be genuinely Christian.  Of course, Paul was amazed that some were actually leaning this way!

       The Galatians had not yet submitted to the bondage of the Law, but they desired to do so.  It seemed appealing to them.  Paul desperately wanted to stop them and turn them back to a life under grace.  He began the argument here by challenging the Galatians to be aware of the heritage they were claiming.

        Once again, Paul turned to the case of Abraham.  The legalizers had undoubtedly based a large part of their argument upon the heritage of Abraham.  Jewish people derived much satisfaction from their physical descent from Abraham and in many cases, considered the promises and blessings of God to be theirs because of it.  But both John the Baptist and Jesus had rejected this sort of hereditary justification.

       John the Baptist, the forerunner and announcer of Jesus, declared: "Do not think you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham" (Matt 3:9).  Jesus debated the Pharisees on the same point in John 8 where He flatly denied that the Pharisees were descended from Abraham spiritually.

        But here, rather than denying outright that the legalizers were descendants of Abraham, Paul pointed out that such a claim can cut two different ways.  You may claim Abraham as your spiritual "father," but who is you spiritual "mother?"

       Abraham had two sons-- Ishmael and Isaac.  Paul asked, in effect, which of these two children the legalists take after. Isaac was born of Sarah, the free woman. Ishmael was born of Hagar, the slave woman.  By the custom of ancient law, the status of a mother affected the status of her son, but this was a matter of the spirit.  Who's your mama?

       Paul pointed out that there was also the manner in which the sons were conceived. Ishmael was born in the "ordinary way," in the course of nature and requiring no miracle and no promise of God. Isaac, on the other hand, was born miraculously as the result of a promise.

        The arguments that follow in this chapter flow out of these images.  Are you a child of freedom or a child of slavery?  Are you a child of Promise or a child of Nature?  Do you really want to go backward since you have been declared to be free and part of a miraculous promise?

        For us, the arguments are no less compelling.  There are many temptations in Christian life to revert to a form of legalism that denies the very promise and freedom of Christ and His grace.  We are tempted to condemn ourselves in a way that assumes a legalistic demand.  We are tempted to condemn others and hold them to some standard that we have set up.  We are tempted to work harder to feel more accepted by God, when, in fact, this is not possible!

         In essence, Paul asks us the question: "Who's your mama?"  Who gave birth to your faith?  Is your life with God born or slavery or freedom?  Is your life with Christ a "natural occurrence" or the result of a miraculous promise?  Are you a child of Law or a child of Grace?

 

        Father God, I claim the heritage of Abraham through the grace of Jesus.  I claim the promises of grace that are received by faith.  I claim the miraculous birth by Your Spirit that is the heritage of Isaac.  I claim with joy and laughter the grace of the Lord Jesus.  In Jesus' Name.

 

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an E-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an E-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org.  Or you can call the church office at 321-259-7200 x1.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -     

The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><